Facebook-owned Instagram is going the way of its parent as it looks to monetize its massive user base, rolling out photo and video ads. The company announced the move in a blog titled “Instagram as a Growing Business,” where it set the stage for turning its 150 million user photo-sharing site into a profitable business with paid ads.
“Instagram is a place where people come to connect and be inspired, and our focus with every product we build is keeping it this way,” the company states in the blog. “We have big ideas for the future, and part of making them happen is building Instagram into a sustainable business. In the next couple months, you may begin seeing an occasional ad in your Instagram feed if you’re in the United States.”
Instagram said it will put effort towards making sure the ads it accepts feel “natural” to the platform. Users can control what ads they see by hiding the ones they don’t like, and least in the introductory phase they’ll also have the ability to give the company input on how they feel about specific ads.
Source: Instagram
